News

This is what a marijuana overdose is like

NewsPosted Aug 18 2016

The phrase 'marijuana overdose' has been used commonly by legalization opponents trying to scare people into believing marijuana is as dangerous or more than other drugs, legal or not. The reality is much different than the phrase leads on. While an overdose of heroin, alcohol, cocaine, and many substances can kill users, there has never been a documented case of marijuana killing anyone. In fact, a recent 'marijuana overdose' that made the headlines involved a 53 year-old father eating 4 marijuana brownies, far beyond the recommended dose, and the worst of hid problems came in the form of cusing at his cat. When his wife called paramedics to be safe, they helped the man into bed after finding his vitals normal and declining to be taken to the hospital. It's unfair to put marijuana in the samecategory as dangerous drugs that cause over half a million unneccessary deaths every year.

Paramedics called to the scene who checked the man found his vital signs to be normal. But they noted he was displaying odd behavior — crawling around on the floor, randomly using profanities and calling the family cat a "bitch."

Compare that to tobacco, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) links to 480,000 deaths each year. Or alcohol, which the CDC links to 88,000 deaths each year. Or opioid painkillers and heroin, which were linked to nearly 29,000 drug overdose deaths in 2014.